3gb vs. 2gb Dual Channel

[dave8624]

I was wondering, is there a performance hinderance in getting 3gb of memory (2gb + 1gb) thats not in dual channel vs. 2x 1gb sticks in dual channel? Or does the extra gig make up for that. Any help would be appreciated.

- Dave

 

[Mondoman]

Especially in Vista, the extra 1GB should help a lot, even w/o dual-channel mode. Depending on your specific CPU, dual-channel mode may be overkill, anyway. If you've got an Intel 800MHz FSB datarate CPU, DDR2-800 RAM is enough to saturate the FSB bandwidth even in single-channel mode.
However, you can have 3GB in dual-channel mode by installing 2x1GB + 2x512MB.

 

[dave8624]

I am looking to put it in my laptop which has an Intel C2D 2.2ghz chip. im pretty sure fsb is 800 on those. Does this change anything or still go with 2+1. BTW im using XP Pro. Thanks.

 

[Poopsmasher]

You shouldnt need more than 2gigs in XP unless you really working it hard!
Put in 2x512mb modules in if you really want more memory, dual channel is worth it...

 

[CNeufeld]

The other thing you can do is use Task Manager to watch how much memory you're actually using for your day-to-day tasks. If you're only using a GB of memory, going up to 3 GB won't do a thing for you. If you're constantly using more memory than you physically have in your machine (using the HD for virtual memory), you're likely to appreciate however much extra memory you can stuff into it.

Clint

 

[Poopsmasher]

What do you use your pc for?

 

[chookman]

I am looking to put it in my laptop which has an Intel C2D 2.2ghz chip. im pretty sure fsb is 800 on those. Does this change anything or still go with 2+1. BTW im using XP Pro. Thanks.

If you are running a laptop your only gunna have 2 slot im assuming ... depends on what you are doing with the machine , however, XP pro should be more than happy with 2gb or RAM if you are doing heavy photoshoping or video editing you may see some improvement with the more RAM. Dual channel is not a big thing for the c2d's anymore.